R.R.W. Shalyar
Constructed: Nova Roma Fleet Yards, Rator III; Romulan Star Empire, Retrofitted to Malem-Class standard in 2411 Operator: Romulan Republic Star Navy Launched: 2408; Taken into RRF possession in 2409 (Retrofitted by RRF in 2410 prior to Iconian War; second refit under JTFB control) Status: Active Technical Specifications: Length: 198 m Beam: 133 m Height: 35 m Mass: 680,000 metric tons Decks: 8 Max Speed: Warp 9.95 Cruise Speed: Warp 7.5 Powerplant: 1 x Type-GX45 Thoron Infusion Singularity Warp Core 4 x Type-GS36 secondary fusion reactors Auxiliary Craft: 2x Tiercel Shuttles, 1x Kestrel Runabout, 1x Commander's Gig Scout Vessel Detailed Information: Designed around the paradigm set forward by Starfleet's Defiant, and later Valiant-class starships, the T'Varo-class Bird-of-Prey was designed to be a nimble, stealthy and deadly attack ship. Designed to be build in numbers and usually carrying a more austere armament, normally banking on its cloaking device and heavy plasma torpedoes, the Shalyar has been redesigned from the ground up to act as the Romulan answer to the more heavily armed escort vessels of Starfleet and the Raiders of the Klingon Empire. Packing a high amount of firepower in a small, stealthy and maneuverable package, the Shalyar exemplifies the tactical sensibilities of the Romulans. An ambush predator, designed around the paradigm of asymmetric warfare and aggressive stealth reconnaissance, able to disrupt enemy supply lines as a lone raider, or use her cloaking device to deceive her opponent about the numbers they re up against. Able to operate efficiently on her own, or as part of a larger formation. Although all this focus on speed and firepower has left her less defensively oriented with a low capacity, but efficient, resilient shield array, and ablative armor heavy enough to take a hit, but not last long on her own in a protracted fire fight without the benefit of numbers or her cloaking device. The Shalyar has been retrofitted since her capture by JTFB forces for the personal use of Commander Hanaj Dreilok, an experienced battle commander with a specialty in asymmetric engagement, often used to being outnumbered and outgunned by larger opponents. Having direct input in her re-design, the inertial dampener and structural integrity field systems have been heavily improved, as have maneuvering thrusters and impulse drives. In terms of warp drive, the Shalyar falls within the realm of traditional Romulan design, which makes high warp speed or acceleration a general weakness of the design. These are a general weakness of all Romulan ships, with the exception of the D'Deridex-class. The Shalyar's wingtip mounted warp nacelles are placed at shallow angles above the center of mass, which lowers overall warp performance. This arrangement however does have the benefit of making the vessel harder to detect at warp velocities, and improves the cloaking devices effectiveness at higher warp speeds. Her power plant is an overhauled Thoron-infused Singularity core, with a built in energy capacitor to allow excess power be diverted to her Auxiliary power systems. This allows additional power for the cloak, and her deflector in order to engage in more unorthodox tactics. The cloaking systems of the Shalyar are based on the Type-S30 Cloaking device common to the Malem-Class Warbird. Design input from the engineering staff of the I.R.W Rei'Karanha have yielded enhancements to the cloaking device. Her effective stealth level is improved by 15%, the power draw on the ship's singularity core is reduced by 27%, allowing for improved use of additional systems while cloaked. The cycling speed of the cloaking device has also been improved, thus reducing her window of vulnerability while cloaking or decloaking with the gain or loss of her shields vs her stealth immersion. As such an enemy now has even less time to land a hit on her while she is entering or leaving cloak before she is either protected by her shields, or the enemy's weapons lose their targeting lock. And with her improved armor and evasiveness, a hit during this window is less likely to be as severe, giving the crew an easier job of repairing damage while cloaked during a retreat or a stealth re-positioning. As well with most starships, her versatility is improved with the inclusion of her small complement of auxiliary craft, including two short range shuttles, one long range runabout, and the Commander's personal scout ship. Disrupting Photon Torpedo: Disrupting Photon torpedoes are a new type of weapon developed for the Imperial Navy and the Tal Shiar by the Vokath Munitions corporation's annex at the Rator III shipyard. The plans for the new torpedo were obtained by the Republic, when the shipyard and its occupants, having defected to the Republic in secret, allowed Republican forces to bloodlessly take the facility during the battle to capture the rest of the system. Based primarily on existing Romulan photon torpedoes, the warhead's payload is supplemented by materials that upon detonation and impact with enemy hulls or shields, leave a slight disrupting effect on the enemy hull, weakening it's molecular bonds and leaving it more susceptible to damage from additional energy or kinetic weapon impacts. Successive hits with additional torpedoes may multiply this effect. Given the new nature of the technology, although mass-production is being carried out, the standard issue complement is lower than the more compact and reliable plasma munitions currently used by Romulan vessels.